The Homesick Texan Cookbook

When Lisa Fain, a seventh-generation Texan, moved to New York City, she missed the big sky, the bluebonnets in spring, Friday night football, and her family's farm. But most of all, she missed the foods she'd grown up with.

After a fruitless search for tastes of Texas in New York City, Fain took matters into her own hands. She headed into the/strong>

Overview

When Lisa Fain, a seventh-generation Texan, moved to New York City, she missed the big sky, the bluebonnets in spring, Friday night football, and her family's farm. But most of all, she missed the foods she'd grown up with.

After a fruitless search for tastes of Texas in New York City, Fain took matters into her own hands. She headed into the kitchen to cook for her friends the Tex-Mex, the chili, and the country comfort dishes that reminded her of home. From cheese enchiladas drowning in chili gravy to chicken-fried steak served with cream gravy on the side, from warm bowls of chile con queso to big pots of fiery chili made without beans, Fain re-created the wonderful tastes of Texas she'd always enjoyed at potlucks, church suppers, and backyard barbecues back home.

In 2006, Fain started the blog Homesick Texan to share Texan food with fellow expatriates, and the site immediately connected with readers worldwide, Texan and non-Texan alike. Now, in her long-awaited first cookbook, Fain brings the comfort of Texan home cooking to you.

Like Texas itself, the recipes in this book are varied and diverse, all filled with Fain's signature twists. There's SalpicÓn, a cool shredded beef salad found along the sunny border in El Paso; Soft Cheese Tacos, a creamy plate unique to Dallas; and Houston-Style Green Salsa, an avocado and tomatillo salsa that is smooth, refreshing, and bright. There are also nibbles, such as Chipotle Pimento Cheese and Tomatillo JalapeÑo Jam; sweet endings, such as Coconut Tres Leches Cake and Mexican Chocolate Chewies; and fresh takes on Texan classics, such as Coffee-Chipotle Oven Brisket, Ancho Cream Corn, and Guajillo-Chile Fish Tacos.

With more than 125 recipes, The Homesick Texan offers a true taste of the Lone Star State. So pull up a chair-everyone's welcome at the Texas table!

Editorial Reviews

Corby Kummer

…[Fain] makes Texas' salsas, tacos, carnitas, posole and enchiladas accessible, never shying from complexity but making them doable.The New York Times Book Review

Publishers Weekly

Fain is a seventh-generation Texan who moved to Manhattan in her mid-20s, mourned both the absence of cream gravy on the East Coast and the illegality of buying whole cow heads in New York, and eventually created a successful food blog, the title of which she has borrowed for her first, and Texas-sized, book. Her writing style is free of both Longhorn exaggeration and New York cynicism. It's as if the two forces have canceled each other out, resulting in a levelheaded, down to earth tone that, like her blog, often refers to family and friends. With a goal of celebrating the "bounty and joy that is Texan cuisine," Fain's most important lessons are that there is much to enjoy beyond the familiar triumvirate of "Tex-Mex, barbecue, and chicken-fried steak," and that there are major culinary differences among the north, east, west, and Gulf Coast regions of her homeland. Witness the West Texas stacked enchiladas, which are layered rather than rolled. Chili, of course, is a requisite recipe, and Fain provides two options: there is a rather amazing seven-chile Texas chili in which chuck roast and the varietal dried chilies soak up the flavors of coffee, beer, garlic, cinnamon, and Mexican chocolate. And for those who would rather not endure the five-hour simmering time, there is the one-hour Texas chili with just two types of peppers and faster-cooking ground beef (Sept.)

Written with equal parts humor and tenderness, Lisa Fain's book makes it easy to imagine your kitchen lies deep in the heart of Texas. Her enticing recipes for a wealth of toothsome Texas favorites prove once and for all that nothing soothes the homesick soul like good old Texas cooking."Rebecca Rather, author of Pastry Queen Parties"

The sometimes funny and sometimes poignant memories of this seventh-generation Texan pining for the cooking of her homeland bring The Homesick Texan Cookbook to life. Lisa Fain's move to Manhattan has given Texans everywhere a great new resource for surefire recipes and Lone Star lore."Robb Walsh, author of Legends of Texas Barbecue Cookbook and The Tex-Mex Cookbook"

Finally, the voice and the down-home Texas cooking I love on the Homesick Texan blog is now between hard covers! Lisa Fain has an original voice, and I love her food-completely accessible, honest and delicious."Michael Ruhlman, author of Ratio and The Elements of Cooking

Ed Levine

"You don't have to be a homesick Texan to appreciate Lisa Fain's evocative, unpretentious prose and her accompanying seriously delicious (and easy to make) recipes."

Rebecca Rather

"Written with equal parts humor and tenderness, Lisa Fain's book makes it easy to imagine your kitchen lies deep in the heart of Texas. Her enticing recipes for a wealth of toothsome Texas favorites prove once and for all that nothing soothes the homesick soul like good old Texas cooking."

Robb Walsh

"The sometimes funny and sometimes poignant memories of this seventh-generation Texan pining for the cooking of her homeland bring The Homesick Texan Cookbook to life. Lisa Fain's move to Manhattan has given Texans everywhere a great new resource for surefire recipes and Lone Star lore."

Michael Ruhlman

"Finally, the voice and the down-home Texas cooking I love on the Homesick Texan blog is now between hard covers! Lisa Fain has an original voice, and I love her food-completely accessible, honest and delicious."

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What People are Saying About This

Robb Walsh

"The sometimes funny and sometimes poignant memories of this seventh-generation Texan pining for the cooking of her homeland bring The Homesick Texan Cookbook to life. Lisa Fain's move to Manhattan has given Texans everywhere a great new resource for surefire recipes and Lone Star lore."
(Robb Walsh, author of Legends of Texas Barbecue Cookbook and The Tex-Mex Cookbook)

Rebecca Rather

"Written with equal parts humor and tenderness, Lisa Fain's book makes it easy to imagine your kitchen lies deep in the heart of Texas. Her enticing recipes for a wealth of toothsome Texas favorites prove once and for all that nothing soothes the homesick soul like good old Texas cooking." (Rebecca Rather, author of Pastry Queen
Parties)

"Finally, the voice and the down-home Texas cooking I love on the Homesick Texan blog is now between hard covers! Lisa Fain has an original voice, and I love her food—completely accessible, honest, and delicious."
(Michael Ruhlman, author of Ratio and The Elements of
Cooking)

Meet the Author

Lisa Fain is a seventh-generation Texan; her formative years were spent on the outskirts of Houston, with crude-oil tanks and barbecue stands nearby; her summers were spent outside Dallas, driving a tractor, picking black-eyed peas, and shucking corn at her grandparents' farm. At the age of 25, she moved to Manhattan for work. In 2005, she began the Homesick Texan website, which has won many awards and has grown to 175,000 unique visitors per month. This is her first book.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

The Homesick Texan Cookbook 4.9 out of 5based on
0 ratings.
14 reviews.

Hometownulysses

More than 1 year ago

As a "Homesick Texan" myself (originally from San Antonio, now in Connecticut) I was a big fan of Ms. Fain's blog. I'm even more excited to have her cookbook. I spent the first day with it flipping through it and savoring the pictures/food/memories. I've only made a few of the recipes so far but I find them complete, relatively easy, and always delicious. My girlfriend is not from Texas, so this is a great chance for me to share the foods I grew up eating with her. I've shared a few recipes with some other Texans I know and we all agree - this stuff is authentic. It's even introduced me to food from other parts of Texas, expanding my appreciation and knowledge of the Lone Star State.

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

Bought it for a Christmas gift for my Sister and Brother in law who have been transplanted out of state for several years now and are truly Homesick Texans. While visiting we made several recipes and they were all so good! Love the pictures and the stories too. I will buy another one for myself.

weezielo

More than 1 year ago

This is the best book on Tex-mex I have seen. I've made several of the recipes and continue to love everyone. Recipes are easy, ingredients easy to obtain and best of all taste terrific.

AustinJJ

More than 1 year ago

It's more than a cookbook, it is a celebration of life, family and, yes, delicious food. When going through it, I just want to try every recipe. For the record, Lisa Fain is my niece, but I'm objective enough to say that this book is superb. Buy it and enjoy!

nytx

More than 1 year ago

I am a Yankee (New York) by birth and a Texan by choice. The recipes in this cookbook are more Tex-Mex but have the same flavors and ingredients as the border cuisine of El Paso which is where I live. The book is colorful and the stories that accompany the recipes help to connect you to the author and her family roots. The recipes are pure Texas comfort food with Lisa Fain's own spin. You don't have to be a Texan to enjoy this cookbook you just have to be someone who loves good food.

Sheltie

More than 1 year ago

Looking it over instantly made me recall my two years in San Antonio at Lackland Air Force Base, and my gradudation from Officer Training School there. Good Texas-style food is hard to come by commercially in New England. now I can make my own

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

This book was GREAT for another homesick Texan. The photography is beautiful, the writing was interesting, and the recipes were fantastic!

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

I would highly recommend this cookbook to both Texans and non-Texans. Lisa Fain has captured the recipes perfectly!! This is exactly why I miss Texas. As soon as I go home to Houston for a visit, I go straight to a Tex-Mex restaurant. Now I can make some of the recipes at home in Massachusetts all year long! Very excited to have found out about this cookbook. Thank you!

Richard60

More than 1 year ago

If you are homesick for Texas like me, you must check this book out. I enjoyed every page and recipe.

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

I preordered this book months ago....am so excited!
Wonder why its taking so long ti recieve it :o(

cookingthehomesickway

More than 1 year ago

Fantastic cookbook.....I hace been looking forward to this one for quite a while! Thank you Lisa for such great food!

Anonymous

More than 1 year ago

texas2stepbk

More than 1 year ago

Lived in Houston for ten years,and LOVE this book.A must for all Homesick Texans and all lovers of Texas Cookin!!!